Walking to the game from the club shop involved getting very wet as it was tipping it down at the time and people were even muttering that the game may get called off. Sitting in the glebe I was surprised at the half decent turn out in the stand around me considering the extortionate price of tickets. The main stand and London road were very empty though.

Amusingly enough, whether it was due to the rain or not, the London Road pitch seemed not to be marked at all, and the ground staff were hurriedly marking out the penalty areas before the game.

Who needs pitch markings?

The game kicked off with Posh shooting towards the Ipswich fans and within a couple of minutes there was a goal. It looked like a Tyler error, Counago fired in a shot from the edge of the area, however it took a big deflection off Jenkins and what might have been an easy take for Tyler at the near post, ended up with in him fumbling the ball and letting it over the line.

Posh seemed to have the lions share of the possession with Constantine holding the ball up well and bringing others into the game including Semple early on who put in a good cross which no one could get on the end of. Another cross resulted in a scramble in the penalty area and Burton lashing a shot off the ground only for the keeper to tip it over.

Trialist Kennedy had a mixed start, showing some good creative play one minute, then passing to Ipswich players and slipping over on the wet grass the next. It seemed he had been given the responsibility of the corners early on, a relief for those who aren’t a big fan of Legg’s set pieces; however Kennedy’s first corner cleared everyone in a similar way to most of Legg’s last season.

After about 15 minutes Ipswich scored a second, I missed the goal but was reliably informed that it resulted from their players playing the ball across the front of our box, toying with the posh defence before a left wing shot from Westlake was fired across the goal, with Tyler slightly out of position, into the back of the net.

A Minute later a free kick was won on Posh’s right and Kennedy stepped up to take it, a superb in swinging delivery found Willock unmarked, after he had broke away from the Ipswich defence. A coolly finished header was powered passed the Ipswich keeper and posh were back in the game.

The first half was a typical preseason game, played at a slow pace and without much entertainment value. Posh had performed reasonably well to limit Ipswich to only a few chances; however a couple of errors allowed Ipswich to take the lead into half time. Sean St Ledger had a decent half defensively, won a lot of headers and showed good composure on the ball, his distribution was a little erratic but all in all it was a good performance from the inexperienced lad. New signing Constantine showed some nice touches and some good flick ons (which might spell the end for Clive Platt’s starting place.) He had some good movement off the ball but was unable to get into any scoring opportunities. He didn’t show much pace however the pitch was quite waterlogged and let’s not forget this was the first preseason friendly. His strike partner Willock went on some good runs, including one where he went past 3 or 4 Ipswich players before winning a corner, and he was generally a thorn in the Ipswich defenders sides for most of the half, although in truth neither team created many chances to score, other than the 3 goals.

A Packed London Road End

Second half kicked off with Newton, Rea, Platt, Logan, Thomson and Faz on as subs. Posh played three at the back which further limited Ipswich’s chances. The Midfield pairing of Thomson and Woodhouse helped posh retain more of the possession. Up front we looked less dangerous without Constantine and Willock. Faz was the only real attacking option and unfortunately found himself contained very well by the Ipswich right back (Wilnes) who was possibly their best player second half, both defensively and going forward. Wilnes found himself constantly Booed by the few London Road End supporters every time he touched the ball after he kicked the ball away unsportingly early on.

Clive Platt showed some neat early touches with the ball on the ground. He was able to beat a man on the right wing and get in a decent looking cross which was dealt with by the Ipswich defence. Platt however for the biggest player on the field failed to win many headers and played with his back to goal most of the half playing the ball backwards to a posh player rather than looking to play any balls through the Ipswich defence. It was a case of same old Clive Platt really; he never really even looked like threatening to score.

A good run from Faz was ended with a challenge from the aforementioned Ipswich number 2. However the resulting free kick came to nothing. Ipswich came back at posh and their striker broke through and looked certain to score but, not for the first time in the match, Tyler rushed out to make a great One on One save with his legs.

Newton was very accomplished at the back in his wingback role but he was a little quiet going forward, which was a shame, since on the odd occasion he did break down the right he generally delivered decent crosses. One Low cross found Faz sliding in on the far post who just narrowly put the ball over the bar. Faz was starting to get frustrated on the left and sensibly decided to switch to the right wing where he found a little more joy.

The second half posh side performed better defensively than the first, which is unsurprising given the extra man at the back leggy, who sweeped up well. However a front paring of Logan and Platt was never really going to work, and didn’t look like producing a goal. Newton in the second half, whilst a little quiet, stood out from the rest having a decent game along with Woodhouse who was his usual self, tackling well and dropping deep to pick up the ball and looking to make things happen. The defence did reasonably well to keep Ipswich quiet. Posh kept the ball well and could have done with a goal in the second half as 2-2 might have been a fairer result.

The players come out in their new kits

Mark Tyler 6 - some great stops but might have been at fault for 1 of the goals

Steve Jenkins 6 - solid defensively, didn’t offer much going forward

Andy Legg 6 - Some good passing at times, but faded from the game in midfield, played well at the back second half.

Sagi Burton 6 - Defended ok

Curtis Woodhouse 7 - Good effort for 90 mins, tackled well.

Sean St. Ledger 6 - A reasonable performance, won his fair share of headers, not troubled that much by the Ipswich forwards

Leon Constantine 6 - held the ball up well and brought others into the game, some good flick ons but didn’t really look like scoring

Gareth Jelleyman 7 - covered a lot of ground and defended well

Ryan Semple 5 - found the conditions hard but put in 1 or 2 nice crosses

Calum Willock 7 - put away an easy chance, looked dangerous

Peter Kennedy 6 - mixed performance, but set up the goal and linked up well with others.

Subs:

Simon Rea 6 - did alright

Dave Farrell 6 - Not much came off for him

Clive Platt 6 - some neat touches and knock downs, never going to score

Adam Newton 7 - couple of good crosses, good at the back

Steve Thomson 6 - not bad

Richard Logan 5 - not really involved in the game